The reason we are considering San Juan island as a home is that it falls into an area with a phenomenon called a rain shadow. It means that part of these islands gets a much lower rainfall than the rest of Washington, and a lot more sunshine. Anyone who knows me, knows just how much I love the sun, and that I need many days of it in my life. Continuous grey and rainy days are not my thing.

The rain shadow is caused by the presence of Mt. Olympus and means that most of the rain is dumped on the windward side of Mt. Olympus, leaving the leeward side relatively dry. The shape of this rain shadow is roughly oval in shape, and I was very skeptical at first. Now, having been here a few days, I have seen a small oval open up above us each day and then expand into a big blue hole in the sky with sunshine pouring down on us, while all around there are clouds and rain. Today is in fact the first day where it has been grey all day. No chance it seems of the oval appearing. I will tell you, that a little sunshine goes a long way to breaking up the grey. It makes it OK to have a day or so of grey.